10 August 2019, Saturday
After a delicious breakfast of apple and blueberry turnovers from Aucoin Bakery in Cheticamp, we return to the bakery once more to buy a cherry pie for tomorrow’s breakfast, along with some muffins and oatcakes. Then we are back on the Cabot Trail, driving straight through until we reach Pleasant Bay to continue our geological explore from there.
We drive up Grand Anse Valley to North Mountain and on to North Aspy Valley. We drive past rocks that are part of the Canadian Shield. They are the oldest rocks in Nova Scotia at 1.5 billion years old. Next up is the Aspy Fault which has exposed some intensely metamorphosed rock called mylonite, sort of a “super-gneiss.” This fault developed during the time when all of the continents were fused together into one supercontinent called Pangaea (almost a half billion years ago,) located near the equator at that time. This fault is believed to have been contiguous with the fault in Scotland near Loch Ness.
From look-offs in the area we can see hanging valleys left behind by glaciation. The terrain is fascinating and beautiful. As we descend from North Mountain we turn off onto an unpaved road and drive up to Beulach Ban Falls, a 40 meter high falls over sandstone and shale. It reminds O and I of places we’ve seen in Pennsylvania. I manage the short hobble from the parking area to the falls without difficulty.
We end today’s explore at Cape North where we acquire some ice cream as a mid-afternoon treat. While we are sitting in Vincent enjoying our snack, the skies open and we find ourselves in the middle of a torrential downpour. It’s a warm cozy feeling sitting in Vincent watching a thunderstorm blow through and eating ice cream. Now it is my turn to drive. We turn back towards Cheticamp saving the rest of the Cabot Trail for our upcoming stay at Broad Cove Campground on the eastern side of the park near Ingonish. As we climb back up the mountain in Vincent we pass many cars pulled off on the side of the road waiting for the storm to pass. By the time we crest North Mountain, however, everything is completely dry. There has been no rain here at all and the temperature is 9 degrees warmer.
We return to our campground and prepare dinner as the sky grows darker. We can hear rumbles of thunder moving closer. There’s nothing quite like eating a hot stew under a tarp in the middle of a thunderstorm. It just reinforces our favorite saying: “It doesn’t matter how cold and wet you are, as long as you’re warm and dry.”
As the storm runs its course we enjoy watching new neighbors – some quite well-organized, quickly setting up tarps and tents in the rain, others taking refuge in cars or disappearing into town in pickup trucks, no doubt seeking a hot meal while waiting for the storm to pass.